Now that they had a way for Noldrei to tag along to Penacony, the main problem was the key itself—the Clockmaker's legacy.
"We can't be sure if this person was a former Nameless of the Express. We absolutely have to confirm this point. And then… who is fishing for us?"
Noldrei raised a key question.
As a fishing enthusiast, he was extremely sensitive to being fished for himself.
To be able to use something the Express crew was most accustomed to as a key to lure them into an investigation meant that the other party was also an excellent fishing enthusiast.
"The thought that there are so many fellow fishing enthusiasts in the universe just makes my spirit burn with excitement!" he exclaimed.
Dan Heng looked helplessly at the 'bird,' which was now flapping its wings so excitedly it had started to fly.
"Don't get all fired up about something like this!" March 7th couldn't help but retort.
"My anti-proliferationist cause is my will, but fishing is one of my most important hobbies!" Noldrei asked, surprised. "To think that there's someone in the depths of the universe who shares your passion, March, doesn't it make you happy? Doesn't it excite you?"
March 7th wondered if the Astral Express was cursed. She was starting to notice that everyone who boarded the train had a few screws loose.
"This isn't a question of being happy or not! We're the ones being fished for! We're being lured to a place, and we don't even know if their intentions are good or bad! Aren't you worried at all?" March 7th rattled off, her logic surprisingly clear.
"March! You got smarter after giving up some of your bone marrow!" Stelle exclaimed with admiration.
March 7th scratched her head. "This has nothing to do with my marrow! Shouldn't we be worried about our own situation?"
"It's precisely because I'm worried about our situation that I told everyone about this," Himeko confessed. "This trip to Penacony is definitely not going to be ordinary. It's just that we were a bit short-handed on the train before, and having Dan Heng alone… well, it certainly wasn't convenient to have him watch over you two."
She said "watch over," but in reality, Dan Heng was looking after the two of them most of the time.
Now that they finally had another capable person on board, Himeko certainly didn't mind testing Noldrei's abilities. She was already very satisfied with his ability to analyze so many details, and she was also pleased with his proposed methods.
At the very least, now that he was on board, his abilities were trustworthy.
"The other party is indeed trying to bait us, but..." Old Yang hesitated for a moment. "Then why should we go? The universe is vast. Why don't we just ignore it? Did they not consider the possibility that we might just drop Penacony and not go at all?"
March 7th looked at Mr. Yang in shock. She never thought he could ask such a cold question.
Dan Heng was also puzzled. He pondered for a while before saying, "How can they be so sure that we'll go to Penacony after seeing such an obvious 'fishing' invitation?"
Noldrei, being new to the train, naturally didn't have much to say. He could see the other party's intention to fish, but he didn't know if this person knew any of the Astral Express's secrets.
Stelle was even more clueless; she had no concept of these things. Right now, she only knew one thing: using Noldrei as her external brain could save her a lot of trouble.
Himeko examined the music box in her hands, trying to find more information about the former Nameless. But besides the background music containing information related to the Astral Express, there was nothing else. Everything pointed to it being an ordinary music box with no special function.
"Alas… it really is a problem… Why would the Clockmaker's legacy be sent to us? According to legend, the founder of Penacony…"
"But according to the crew manifest, the three passengers who disembarked that year were named Tiernan, Ruan Mei, and Zaryalina. They were the train's guard, mechanic, and cartographer. There's no other information."
Himeko wasn't sure if the Clockmaker was related to someone from the train, since no one knew the Clockmaker's real name.
"Whether it's a fishing trip or not, I think we still have to go," Himeko said helplessly. "Especially since it involves information about a former Nameless. Perhaps we can find something in the process of searching for history."
Mr. Yang had been silent for a long time. He pushed up his glasses. "So it seems our next stop is set for Penacony. I'm actually more curious about what would happen if we didn't go. But this also involves the Conductor's request, and all these vague puzzles. In that case… what are your thoughts?"
Noldrei flapped his wings a couple of times. "As a fisherman, one must be prepared to be fished for. When a man is fishing, the fish can also use itself as bait to play tricks on you. Since everyone is so worried, how about I propose a safer method? We… can also find a suitable bait of our own, how about it?"
Dan Heng's eyes lit up. He thought this was an excellent idea.
Noldrei had heard a lot of key information just now. "We've learned about the Clockmaker's legacy independently of others," he explained. "So let's just release this information!"
"We'll openly declare in Penacony that we already know the answer to 'why does life slumber.' That way, someone is bound to fall for it and come to us. Then, we just need to attack them from both inside and outside the dream to achieve our goal of countering them."
"What do you all think of my idea?"
March 7th looked around at everyone, her head still spinning.
What was going on? Why was this Trailblazing meeting so different from before?
How were they already preparing to set a trap for the enemy before they even got there?
Why were they already planning a two-pronged attack from both dream and reality before the fun even started?
Why? Why?
Why did it feel like she didn't understand?
Question marks popped up over March 7th's head. She looked at everyone's thoughtful expressions; even Stelle had that look on her face.
'Could it be… am I the dumbest one on the train?'
March 7th suddenly realized a terrible truth.
She couldn't help but ask Stelle, "Stelle, did you understand what's going on?"
Stelle replied, "I didn't really understand, but I think it's a great idea! It's definitely better than any idea I could come up with!"
'So you were just pretending!' March 7th's eyes widened, feeling betrayed by her trusted companion.